In the eyeglasses sector, the nosepiece is the structure which forms part of the frame and which rests directly on the wearer's nose.
The nosepiece usually comprises a pair of pins which extend away from the bridge and which, at their lower ends, mount respective nosepads which are designed to come into direct contact with the wearer's nose. More specifically, the nosepads have a rear connecting portion which has a through hole made in it designed to receive the end of the respective pin.
It is known that for eyeglass comfort one of the main requirements of nosepads is that they must be adjustable in position in order to be able to adapt to the shape of the wearer's nose.
Known in the prior art, therefore, are solutions generally comprising hard nosepads which are movable to be adjusted to a certain extent. A solution of this kind is described in Italian patent application No. PD2003A000078, where the connection between the nosepad and the pin is obtained by tapering the through hole in which the pin is inserted, in particular from the ends of the hole towards the inside. This connecting system between nosepad and pin is also made in such a way as to limit the angular excursion of the nosepad relative to the pin.
Further, in the aforementioned prior art, solutions are also known to comprise an insert which is embedded in the nosepad and which bears the manufacturer's logo or other text, visible from the outside because the nosepad is made of a rigid, transparent material.
Another known requirement in the eyeglass trade is for the nosepads to be easy to fit to (and removed from) the respective mounting arms so as to facilitate substitution.
In this perspective, the connecting portion with the hole used for connecting the nosepad to the pin is, in some prior art solutions, made of a deformable material. That way, the adjustability of the nosepad is provided by the deformability of the material the connecting portion is made of.
Disadvantageously, in the solutions with rigid nosepad, removing the nosepad from the pin (as well as fitting it to the pin) has been found to be difficult mainly on account of the high rigidity of the material the nosepad is made of.
Moreover, in solutions of this kind, it is difficult to guarantee the required nosepad adjustability because the parts making up the nosepad-pin joint must have a suitable geometry, especially for such adjustability to be reliable over time.
In the solutions where deformable material is used for the connecting portion, on the other hand, it has been found that it is difficult to add an insert to the inside of the nosepad and in these solutions, therefore, the nosepads cannot easily and effectively be provided with inserts bearing logos or text.
For example, documents EP0067373 and GB2132379 relate to nosepads for eyeglasses nosepieces where the connecting portion is made of an elastically deformable material.
In these solutions, the connecting portion is distinct and separate from the pad, since the pad is moulded onto the connecting portion to incorporate a part thereof. In these solutions, the part of the connecting portion that is incorporated in the pad may be decorated.
These solutions, however, have limitations and disadvantages. In effect, they give little freedom of choice and design in creating the decoration. Moreover, these solutions are not robust and involve the risk of the pad breaking off the connecting portion.
That is because the decoration is made on one face of the connecting portion and the choice of the material from which to make the connecting portion is conditioned by the very fact that this portion has a connecting function.